Kiss the Goblin
by Halewyn's Lady
Summary: When Queen Elspeth is in her hour of need a certain Goblin King comes to give her a push in the wrong/right? direction.
1. Goblin Games, anyone?

Ello there

This fanfic was supposed to be posted in one go (5 chapters). I have grown tired of me not finishing it. So I give you the first chapter as a treat.

This is jellie fiction for all jellie fans out there (we might be with a hand full). Jellie= Jareth/Elspeth. I owe this all to rp. Big thanks to my fellow rp'ers.

For all who are new to this pairing I hope you enjoy it too.

I do not own Jareth, Elspeth, Labyrinth or Fairest of them all.

I wish I could write Elspeth for a living. Please! Goblin King, give me Queen Elspeth. I can do this. I could make people happy by being her.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxx

She felt as if she had been in that room for a lifetime. She listened to the soft repeated banging of her head against the floor and screamed. Her beautiful hair fell in front of her face. She rested her forehead on the cool floor. The cold could not temper her frustrations and she had no strength left to let them out. Slowly her sobbing diminished. She looked up. There was no one there but her and her reflections. This was her safe place. This room was everything she was. And it had betrayed her.

Downstairs in the hall the feast had not ended yet. She did not care. She had left it under mocking looks as she had failed to make the prince fall in love with her.

"Nonoooonnoononoooo" a whiney shriek forced its way out her body.

This could not possibly get any worse.

She gritted her teeth to keep herself from crying. That idiotic prince. He had destroyed both mirror pieces by accident, crushed to dust beneath his foot.

She had run out of options. She needed to drive him and her stepdaughter apart. When she shakingly arrived here her humiliation was followed by a ghastly trick her mirror played on her. She would get rid of the girl and take the prince for herself.

"Elspeth," A shiver trailed down her spine. Some people you recognize without having ever seen them before. The tone of voice, the glimpse of a boot.

A gloved hand gallantly entered her sight. She could not be mistaken.

"Don't look so suspicious."

She groaned. Not him.

The hand waved indicating she should accept his offer before he, whimsical was his second name, changed his mind and withdrew the offer.

She ignored the hand she would have accepted from anyone else. "Queen." She corrected. She took his hand, and rose to her feet

"That was cruel." He waited for her to correct herself in her betitling of him.

"Jareth, the Goblin King." She whispered reluctantly.

He granted her a regal nod. "The one and only." He conducted himself with flair and determination he was the centre of all.

She wiped her dress, postponing she moment she would have to look up at him. They both had a feel for theatrics. When she did look up grim shadows were cast around her eyes and a charming smile graced her lips.

"So the rumours are true, the Goblin King has developed a taste for little girls."

"I don't know what you are talking about. You are not that young."

"You want me to wish Snow White away." Elspeth grinned, as full of herself as he was. "You showed up too soon. I am not giving up."

"Wrong." He sneered. "She would be a nice asset to the labyrinth, no doubt, but she is not the reason for my visit."

He left the silence to tell his real reason. "I'm not about to wish myself away."

"Yes you are, sweetling, you don't have a choice. You might as well confess, you are completely crazy about me and my little monsters."

"We've not met before."

He was appreciatively staring down at her and swiftly moved on. "Don't you have a brother to wish away? "

"I can't. He is in the same business as you are."

"Oh" Jareth inspected his black gloved fingertips. "I might be able pull some strings…"

"I said no. He can take care of himself. We're not that close."

"You wouldn't want him back? Then I will have to find another way to temp you. "

"I don't think so. You have no permission to be here. I didn't wish make a wish."

"This girl has everything she ever wished for. And is she happy?" He looked at her with a teasing pout. "No.

You have plenty of wishes. You just don't dare say them. "

"You still shouldn't have come. I did not call…"

"I can be here." he interrupted. "You are an exception." He was standing too close for comfort. He was waiting.

She glared. "You can stop that. I am not going to wish myself away."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Are not."

She moved away before he could tap her on the nose. "I am not saying it."

Jareth shrugged with a natural flair. "It was worth a shot."

She clenched her hand. Her eyes flashed to her mirror. How she would love to throw it at his face.

"A piece of advice: You should give up on that toddler prince. "

She headed for the door. "Be gone when I return."

She summoned her mirror to her hand. It did not come.

"Elspeth." Slowly turned around, knowing this could not mean anything good. "you are forgetting something." He held up his hands and eyed the empty mirror stand. Her mirror was gone.

"How did you?!" She stormed at him.

"Your mirror betrayed you." His most innocent look on his face. "Why would you still want it?"

She grabbed him by the collar, ready to throw him out of the room. "You can't keep my mirror hostage."

"Apparently I can." He twirled the mirror around his hand and balanced it above his finger. It vanished before she could reach for it.

"I did not wish it away." He fed off her scared little lost girl look.

"You thought about it."

"I did not wish. Find your entertainment elsewhere. In the town square perhaps. The peasants would love to see your magic tricks. I have no time for this."

She turned back to the door and found him blocking her way. She opened her mouth in protest. He silenced her with a casual hand gesture. "Are you now prepared to hear me out?"

She shook her head. "Give my mirror back."

"As I was saying." He put his hand on hers. "Your prince teddy bear is terribly at fault. It's his loss. He is head over heels for that …" Jareth vaguely pointed towards one of the tall mirrors Snow White had appeared in. Apparently he had been watching longer than she knew. "creature."

He squeezed her hand and shifted to stand beside her. "On second thought, if you are going after him now, I'll accompany you." He smiled. To make certain it would be a disaster, without doubt.

"I am not going anywhere with you."

"All you have to do is solve the labyrinth, Elspeth." He whispered in her ear.

"Give me some personal space, Jareth."

The mirrors flashed to reveal a gigantic view on his labyrinth. She jerked away.

"That's a good mirror." He said. She felt his hands on her upper arms, keeping her in place. He was standing behind her now. She would give anything to back away from this.

If she had but flung her mirror at him sooner. But then he would have halted it by holding up his hand and thrown in a smug smile to accompany the act.

She heard him breath in her scent. She glanced sideways, looking wary at him and saw him watching her over her shoulder. A kiss but a breath away, a small turn and a breath away.

He talked before her anger escalated. "The mirrors show you the labyrinth. Step through it and you will be there. Find your mirror. That is all there is to it. If you fail, you are mine."

She looked out over the labyrinth. "There is no way in hell I am going there." She kept her eyes fixed on a point right in front of her. If she would chance looking behind her he would take advantage of that with a kiss. She was too angry to let that scenario take place.

He leaned over her to look her in the eye. Just a breath now. "I don't need you to agree, Elspeth."

She was alone again.

The mirrors were empty, reflecting the room but not her.

"Mirror?" Elspeth shrieked. She circled around the room. Her mirror was not in here and did not answer her call. She glared distrustingly at her mirrors in case Jareth was watching her through one of them.

After a little while she left the room, smashing the door shut behind her. "JARETH!" She screamed. Her skirts billowing around her. "I am not going anywhere. "

She hurried down the stairs to the hall. "You have three hours to solve the labyrinth." His voice echoed. She looked around for him. He was nowhere to be seen.

She shouted at the ceiling. "That's a bit short."

"We are eager to have you."

"You don't make the rules here. This is my castle."

Little monsters raced before her feet. She kicked them down the stairs. Goblins unmistakably. In hér castle! Goblins!


	2. Masquerade with Apples

She quickly scanned the hall as she walked down the stairs. Stairs which had been on a different side of the room.

Her guests were gone. People, creatures she decided was a safer word to use, dressed rich costumes inhabited this part of her castle. They were dancing. They swirled like synchronised leaves through the hall. She could not get a clear view on the situation because of that. She would have to venture into the crowd should she wish to find that blasted king of theirs. The strangest thing about the room was her dining table was littered with rotten fruit. Even the ugly little goblins kept well clear of it. On the last steps of the stairs exposed for everyone to see, she spoke in a loud voice. "I demand an audience with your king." No one but lifted its head to hear. Although she had expected this reaction she felt insulted. She made her way through the people. Annoyed by every person who ignored her or blocked her path. It took her forever to get one meter further through the crowd. The swaying slowness of the dance clashed with her need of moving forward quickly. Adding to that the frustrating beauty of them and their movements she felt herself sicken. She heard half spoken whispers ghost around her. She proceeded with the grace and determination of the queen she was. Her heart beat faster by the second. Every time someone swirled before her, almost stepping on her foot, stopping her in her track. She wished for the comfort of her mirror.

Elspeth continued her walk through the crowd. She wrinkled her nose angrily at the smaller goblins running around at her feet freely between the dancers. The nobles danced past her. She could not tell anymore where she was in the room. She had wanted to go in a straight line but the masked beings had made that quite impossible. Perhaps she was walking in circles. In any case she was getting bored. She made a sport of spotting phallic symbols. Queen Elspeth was not one to miss those. There were plenty to go round. The most obvious being that most of the men's masks had exceptionally large noses. She decided the mask maker goblin must be called Freud. Her mind elsewhere, her body got the hang of moving along the dancers. She still heard them talk in hushed tones and coy smiles. She could not make out full sentences however hard she tried. She convinced herself that she did not care what they said. Whenever she glanced around her the others would not meet her gaze. She slid further into the dance. She adapted its flow with ease now and got past the dancers swiftly. As she smiled and smoothly curved her way between the ballroom creatures the annoyance slid off her. She made it to where she knew a door to be. It was not there. Elspeth did not panic. The cool and distant atmosphere of the room felt warm and familiar to her. It had crept onto her skin like and drew her back into the arms of the dance. She did not feel like she belonged here. It felt as if these masked people were out of her league. Her mind told her they were not.

A hand captured her reflection and disappeared back into the dance. Elspeth noticed that many of the dancers carried small mirrors with them. She expected one to be offered to her. She would look at herself and be reassured. As this did not happen she watched the others and worried.

"They are all goblins." Elspeth whispered to herself. It made her feel better to give voice to what she already knew. "They are not beautiful."

"Very good." A man said, as if she had become visible by uttering those words. His sharp teethed smile was just like Jareth's. Hungry. He took her hand from her cheek. He kissed the hand, unlike Jareth who had not even paid her that basic respect. The cat masked man drew her into the dance with a languid pull. She figured she was allowed to have some fun.

She went from one hand to the other. Masks floated by before her eyes. It was a slow but confusing dance. She could not keep track of it. She was swung from hand to hand. She lost her sense of direction in this never ending swirling, yet she always seemed to be brought back to the tall man in the cat mask. His hypnotic stare from behind the mask never left her person. She wondered, was he going to dance her to sleep? By that time she had found out two things. A. He was not the Goblin King B. He was exactly the kind of man she could use to lead her out of here. Which brought her to problem A. none of the doors that should have been in this room were anywhere to be found and the stairs had vanished as well. She was locked in a box.

She found herself pressed against the handsome form of her dancing partner. She knew what to do. Right now. She kissed him. She locked lips with a goblin man. It was the perfect way to gain his assistance. She would leave this labyrinth and enjoy it while she was at it. No better way to show her determination. But then his mask broke. Elspeth heard the crack. Two neat halves fell to the floor. It did not bother him. She built down the kiss. She softly let go of his not unpleasant tasting lips and glanced at the face. Bulging eyes were fixed upon her where sensual dark brown ones had been. He danced on graciously, but his face did not match that grace. As the mask had done for the head, his clothes and the ease he danced with made the body look perfect. She withdrew her hand from his. He gallantly took her hand again and urged her to dance on. No man made her do what she did not want to, however sweetly he went about getting it.

His black mouth half opened to speak. There came no sound. It was half opened to taste her skin. "Another kiss?" His mouth twitched. A gooey substance rolled over his lips.

"I think not." She pulled away. Another dancer pushed her back. She kept some distance between her and the man as they danced on. There was no more switching of partners anymore. She was stuck with this thing. How ugly could he be underneath it all? She had not finished the unwanted thought or his clothes altered leaving his crooked legs exposed. On a scale from ugly to monster he was atrocious. Her fingers dug into his arm of fright. Not out of fear of him but out of fear for herself. Her body screamed goblin. She watched her hand. Its fingernails were long, her skin muddy. "Let go." She pleaded. Before another step was taken she kicked him in the groan. She heard Jareth laugh, but could not see him. "Jareth!" She shook her hand to wipe off what was left of her monstrous form. The dancing stopped. The music fell silent as well. The music in the room had not been audible. It was of the magical kind designed to set the mood and keep you in it. It resounded through your body and then convinced your ears there was music. As everything else in the Labyrinth it was a trick.

Elspeth instinctively turned to face a wall. The dancers had done the same. Not a second later the wall in question was blown open by a wind that spread glitter through the room. Only one person had an ego big enough to us a wall as a massive door. Next time he barged in like this she would like him to keep the glitter to himself. She just might be allergic to it.

Through the smoke Jareth entered and smiled directly at her. A room full of people could not distract him from his target. Of course it helped that the dancers were clearing the way for him to Elspeth. Some of them, uninterested since this was not about them, picked up their dance where they had left off.

"Glad you could make it." She said.

He was pretty for a man. So unlike any human kings she had met. He was not a man. He was a goblin. Shivers ran down her spine telling her to back off. She had not met him before because she avoided the goblin kingdom at all costs, and would prefer to keep away from him now as well. Another man by his appearance she would not refuse. She was not altogether certain she would refuse Jareth either, despite who he was. Queen Elspeth shamelessly fantasized about him to fill the time he needed to cross the room in his day to day slanting majesty. He twirled an apple around his gloved hand and held it up to her.

"I have come to give you a present. Here you go, for the fairest." He tossed the apple at her. A masked person hit it away in mid-air. The apple fell amidst the dancers. They dove at the only item of fresh fruit in the room. Elspeth stepped around them and over some of them to Jareth.

"You lost your chance at being the fairest now." He mocked. She smiled back at him. "You could use the apple, dearest. It is the only good one in the room. Have you noticed there is only rotten fruit in the ball room? That is because the fruit represents you. It is this nice little thing we call symbolism. I wouldn't want the symbolism of it all to go lost on you. I put a lot of work into this. Don' t you want it?" He offered her his empty hand as if the apple was still there.

Elspeth did not even glance at the dancers fighting over the apple. She held out her hand. "You would not be here if the apple was not for me. "

He withdrew his hand.

"Elspeth, Elspeth, you are too smart for your own good.

You know how magic works. You know wishes backfire. What if I were to give you the apple right now? Out of the sheer goodness of my heart? No strings attached? Would you take it?"

She remained silent. "For me?" he pressed on. Her face looked more agreeable. She wanted her status of fairest back more than anything.

He pranced around her, over the steps to her two in one throne and sat down on her husband's side of the throne. She approached. "Stop." He dangled his feet over the armrest. His polished heeled boots resting on her throne. "Right there." He had that rare talent of making her skin tingle and crawl at the same time.

He ran a crystal up his sleeve. It turned into another apple. He smiled. "Here is your present again. An apple. You like apples, Elspeth." He bend forward to her. Elspeth looked away, cautious of goblin tricks. His fingers cupped her chin, he turned her face back to him. "You like them very much." He showed her the apple as if he intended to sell it to her. He stroked her cheek before he let go of her and ran his hand over the apple. This hand enveloped the top half of the apple with a circular movement. By magic this part broke off. He looked at her not understanding face.

"Which half do you want?"

"I am not a fool. I will not eat goblin fruit. You cannot ask me to…"

"I am not asking."

She heard the dancers talk. Without the music clouding her mind their words carried through the room. She heard one whisper loudly in agreement with Jareth "She is smartier than those other girlies."

"Because she are old …er… " That voice died in a grumble behind his mask.

"Don't be such a spoil sport, Elspeth. You have eaten yuckier – blast now I sound like one of my goblins-" He smiled charmingly. "less tasteful food in your time. You will be in here for a long long time. You have to eat something."

The glistening apple was practically screaming "eat me!" at her. Jareth's handsome appearance made it all the more alluring. But her mirror was screaming louder than both Jareth and the apple.

"Which half? The red one or the white one?"

He was having some kind of private joke. The meaning of it evaded her. She would have to play along and get this over with by humouring him if she wanted to get anywhere.

She reached for the white. He laughed, she redrew her hand.

Elspeth glared daggers at him and his aggravating arrogance. "I will find my mirror."

She turned her back at him and started to walk.

"Won't you stay for fun and games?" His empathic voice told her he was not sorry at all for causing her inconvenience. He put the halves back together.

Jareth rose from the throne. He suddenly appeared in front of her. She wondered if she would ever get used to that trick of his. He must be amazing at parties. "Do you do balloon tricks as well?"

"Elspeth, try to take things seriously." He dangled the apple in front of her. "Fulfil your wish. Fairest of them all."

She hesitated. She did not trust one hair on that devilishly handsome head of his. Nor did she want to owe the Goblin King any tricks.

"There's always a catch. "

"Fairest of my kingdom of course." He grinned. "Do you expect a welcome home party? "

He enjoyed her panic ridden face before she ran away from him as fast as she could. She intended to reach the open wall and whatever lay beyond.

"Elspeth…"

"I said no!" She ventured further into the room.

"You won't find your mirror there. " He walked through the crowd with ease.

She got took a few more paces, struggled to get past a few more dancers. She did not get very far of course. The dancers took hold of her. He was standing right before her again.

"I do not let people walk away from me anymore." She turned around to watch the throne and saw him approaching her from there now. He looked perfectly edible and he was coming right at her. She was furious at him. She looked it, being held captive by the dancers' tight grips. Perhaps that was what why she wanted to eat him.

"Don't ever… !"

"Temper temper." he said practically purring. What was worse: she liked it. The apple hovered in front of her face. It turned into a shining crystal apple. "Take it."

"No."

He pulled her onto his lap on the throne in front of all these monsters. She was almost relieved to have escaped the touchy crowd. The apple had disappeared. Jareth made the safe bet that she would keep her unspoken anger inside for the time being. She was sitting uncomfortable on his sprawled legs, one of his legs tucked beneath the other. "So tense, Elspeth, relax. I don't bite."

"Yes you do."

"Yes I do."

"Don't lie to me." His smile that told her he lied to everyone.

The goblins faded into the background. As if those beings weren't even there. It was just her and him, threatening each other. She leaned into him. "Mmm good girl." He stroked the side of her face in an affectionate way.

"Where is my mirror?"

He laughed at her. He was softly swayed his legs as one would with a child on his lap. His hand possessively on her hips.

"At the heart of the labyrinth. "

"Your bed?"

"Tsktsk someone is daydreaming."

"You have been using it."

He cast her a contemplative look. "My bed?"

"My mirror. It is out of my reach but I can still feel when someone uses it. You have been peering at me while I was here."

"Naturally. It is a very entertaining object. You would be surprised by the things it tells me."

"Dearie dearie dearie me so childish the pair of ya." A goblin comment, they were still here most of them murmuring away. This had been a coarse female voice sounding oddly sound. It was ignored by both rulers.

"Don't break it, Jareth. Or I will kill you." She considered petrifying him. He might be too large to turn to stone, but she could try.

"Will you now?" He hummed the tune known as 'Little goblin bouncing on my leg'. How delightfully ambiguous he made it sound. He had a way of turning things around and giving them a foul meaning. This situation had become dirty. Dirty was fine by her. She could work with dirty.

"Where is it?"

His voice answered in a dry and threatening fashion. "Your mirror is in the castle. If you find my bed you get bonus points and stay in my Labyrinth forever."

She nodded. He felt her shift on his lap to leave.

"Kiss now and thank me later."

She laid her arms around his neck. "No problem." She kissed him softly on the lips.

"Not me, the goblin."

The tall goblin she had danced with bowed before the throne. His mask was gone for good, actually for bad, for ugly, very ugly.

"No."

Jareth shooed her off his lap. She gave him a very ugly look in return.

"You'll fit right in." he said with a nasty smirk. He urged her forward. "Don't fight it. You know you want to."

The dancers, more solid than ever, closed in around her. They rudely shoved her forward into the crowd. Their king followed in her wake. "Make her a mask."

Some snickered. "One that masks her beauty." "Make her like us!" "Not too ugly." "Ugly!" "Like us." "That be beauty." She heard them fidget around behind her back. Comparing and discussing masks for her. She fought them to no avail. They practically carried her, holding her hands tight on her back, to a goblin that wore no mask. He was wooden of skin and willowy of figure. She had the fearful feeling this was the one she had secretively named Freud. He held out his hands to her face. He was there to sense what goblin mask was right for her. Jerking away was not going her any good, she put on her best 'this is me, deal with it' face. When he spoke he spoke with the most tedious voice there ever was. "You are already wearing a mask." And his fingertips hovering above her face now came down touching her cheeks as to take the mask off. She managed to pull away, that or the goblins let go against their will. She spun through the room away from the crowd to come to a halt standing alone. Her eyes wide with fear. The goblin king smiled knowingly.

"It is a shame your confidence is so fleeting. There it is, there it goes. Destroyed by a young girl and boy. You probably reminded him of his mother. Really, you should not pin much hope on that future." How she wished to strangle him.

"Mind your own business."

"I am looking right at it.

He sneaked up behind her. "You should pin more fun on your future. There are too many things a foolish mortal man cannot give you. I am not doing this to hurt you, Elspeth. Enjoy the labyrinth."

"You still have to work on personal space. "

"Kiss the goblin."

He motioned the monster goblin to come forward.

"I won't kiss that."

"You don't make friends easily do you? Look at that hurt face."

"I don't care about that hurt face." She did not as much as look in the goblin's direction. If she had she might have seen the slap coming. The goblin hit her in the face, black drool splashed from his trembling lips. Elspeth gasped for breath out of sheer shock.

"Kiss. Now." It grunted desperately, as a cursed prince would. But this was the Underground and this was a goblin.

Elspeth looked for a way out through the dense crowd to her right when she was pulled to her left.

"No kiss goblin, never know what will happen." She recognized the voice of the 'childish' comment. k A plump goblin looked up at her. It was slightly more human in appearance than the other goblins. It was shorter than Elspeth and larger than the annoying standard goblins. What immediately struck out to Elspeth was the crazy curly hair and the completely ridiculous armour with a bow on top. All in all this goblin was a gruesome motherly figure. "Clearly trap. Was put here to seduce you. You kiss, you stay. Goblin-he be in the bog, fried or worse. I knows King's jealousy. All part of his plan."

"Yes I had figured that out for myself." Could the being even talk in full sentences?"

Elspeth tried to wriggle her arm free. The goblin held a tight grip on her. Elspeth cursed goblin strength.

"Ah Elspeth, this is Weech our chef du Labyrinth. She will get you something to eat. Go with her." Jareth's approval was the most alarming thing about this turn of events.

The cook drew her along.

"How about a nice bowl of homemade mud?"

"No." A surly big nosed face that matched the voice warned Elspeth against objecting.

"This way for a warm bowl of mud. It is waiting for you."

Elspeth cast a glare at the Goblin King as she was dragged away. "I'll get you for this, Jareth."

"I do hope so."

"There are goblins and chickens running loose in my castle because of you!"

"Dancers well done!"

Goblins stared in amazement at each other. No one was allowed to judge the king's behaviour but this mood was highly unusual. "Move on, get on with it." Jareth swung his cane at the littlest goblins. "Go block some passages, all of you! Get a move on!" The goblins ran around, bumping into each other. Only a few found a way to a door and got through it.

"And replace every certain death by truth mirrors. That's worse than death for our lovely guest." He was practically dancing as he said this.

"All of them?" A goblin squeaked.

"Yes! Get to it!" He urged them out of the room.

No goblin knew how many certain deaths there were in the Labyrinth. Certain deaths liked to hide in teeny little corners. It would be against the spirit of the Labyrinth to throw out the certain deaths.

But Jareth's plan sounded like a clearly defined one and that was a rare thing. Most of the time he just winged it.

"That's Mad! Mad, mad,…"

"King's not himself. "

Others nodded energetically.

Jareth skipped, jumped, lounged into his throne. He tapped an eyeball out of his cocktail. It rolled up his sleeve and turned into a crystal ball.

"Ah the cleverness of me." He twirled his hand and watched Elspeth in the crystal.

On the side:

Special thanks to Nyssa Sara Lee for beta reading my chapters.

The goblin Weech can be found in Brian Froud's "the Goblins of Labyrinth. I will be borrowing more goblins of this book later on.

Rp references they will be present =)

Jareth clearly has the advantage. He has seen Ellie's film and she has not since he did not let her finish her story. He acquired this knowledge by some sort of crystal magic or mirror manipulation. I know little of those things. She has to save herself with some facts she happens to know about the Underground.


	3. A Hearty Stew

The cook jerked a filthy cloth aside to reveal the goblin kitchen. Elspeth pulled her gaze over the cooking equipment displayed on the tables. Pots and pans were scattered everywhere. There was no fish, meat, greens or herbs to be found. Except for a skinned rabbit hanging from the ceiling on an oversized hook. Several goblins were jumping at it with open mouths, much like piranha's playing with a piñata. All metal was rusty. No doubt they believed that contributed to the flavour of whatever they cooked. Elspeth spotted one shelf of exceptionally dirty and rusted tools. Those were kept as trophies of meals the cook was most proud of.

Elspeth walked past the many goblins occupying the kitchen. They started shouting at her. She quickly revaluated the most effective way to ignore goblins and kicked them out of her way. "Welcome to my cookdom. Ain't no king, can't call it kingdom."

Elspeth doubted what gender the cook was for a moment. Perhaps it had been premature to call it female. Then she remembered she did not care. A goblin rushed in their direction. It bowed, tripped, something fell on the floor. It bowed again, lost its balance, waved its hands in the air.

It picked up what had fallen and presented it to the cook. "Madam cook sir. Itsa itze more ingredient."

It was a basket filled with rotten fruit from her ball and a big brownish green something.

She could hear the sputtering of a cauldron brew. Anything edible the goblins found wound up in there. There was much around for them to use. Edible was a large concept to goblins. Some ran around offering the cook items she could throw in the cauldron bin. Most of the goblins running around didn't appear to do anything but running in the way. Elspeth figured the cook ran this whole ill reeking kitchen by herself.

The cook crudely chopped up what turned out to be an odd formed and burnt loaf of bread and wrapped it up in her stained apron. "I make the most stew in the Underground."

"I have heard that before."

"Lady miss too kind." Elspeth wrinkled her nose in disgust. Which had the opposite effect. The creature grinned even wider. There was something seriously and undeniably wrong about that goblin woman. Those hearty friendly laughing wrinkles only were at the surface of it.

"Hunger drives many of king's challengers to my territory."

The cook hobbled to one of many variant cooking pots and dropped the bread pieces into the bubbling substance inside. It instantly began to sizzle.

"What's he stolen from you then?"

"My mirror."

"Pretty girl like you need no mirror, dearie. Leave it here."

Elspeth silently glared. She walked on, seemingly wandering around the extremely messy room. She wanted to spot another door than the hole she came from. The kitchen was dark and if there was another exit it would be hidden in some nook or cranny. She blocked out anything she saw that looked familiar. She did not want to be in this messy kitchen it reminded her of a phase in her life she forced herself to forget about. The phase called childhood. It was alarming how at home she felt in a place like this.

She arrived back at the row of cauldrons. She counted seven cauldrons on the fire and knew the cook was having an off-day. She could prepare much more food than that. One goblin dove from one cauldron to the next gobbling up all the big lumps of meat it could find inside. The cook gave one of her concoctions a grand swirl. She lifted the ladle to Elspeth.

"Have a taste."

"I did not come here to eat."

"'course not. I am going to help you out, as done before with humans. King's brought many girls here, women, pretty ones, no longer children, no." with emphasis she added." As is tradition." She paused. "Children make better goblins. They are tastier too." She gave the stew another passionate swirl. "He hasn't brought goblins in here for ages. Always women. We do this so many times. Help out. Everyone happy. We have food. You will be safe from being turned goblin. We are going to eat you."

Queen Elspeth was mildly surprised and not as disgusted as the cook would have liked her to be, as other human visitors were. Creatures eating people was sick to human standards but it did not make her stomach churn. No more than cannibalism would. It made her reach for the nearest knife.

One goblin bit her arm before her fingers made contact with the knife. She threw the thing on the floor. Time to find out if she hadn't lost her touch. She stretched her finger and turned the goblin to stone. Elspeth had no time to admire her work. The goblins cheered. Some as a battle cry most for fun. They head on attacked her. They jumped to her. The creatures were not so bright to carry weapons. Some held spoons. They somehow succeeded in not successfully wielding those. Queen Elspeth thought it would be embarrassing if she were hit by a spoon. Even more so if because of that she ended up being unconscious for her remaining time in the labyrinth. Some of the spoons were gigantic. Any useful weapons the goblins stupidly overlooked. Elspeth did the logical thing. She hit the little pests as hard as she could. Their attack was fairly organized. They had practiced this. Whenever Elspeth got one off her another would take its place. "Caught a firey, I did!" One shouted pulling her hair.

"Get oooooff!" she screamed. The goblins laughed, happy with their new toy. The kitchen became a massive smash pit. She had many uglies to deal with. They did not shut up. If anything, more flooded into the roam. This overpowering hoard prevented her passage to anywhere. She took a swirl petrifying fragments of anything her finger happened to be directed at. The next goblins were already waiting to get a bit of that magic trick she did. They grinned. Her mind paused for a moment. She noticed they started queuing to be turned to stone. And was hit on the head. Struck down by a giant ladle. Her world turned a stinking shade of black.

Elspeth heard them talk. She did not have the strength to move or even open her eyes. All she would have seen was the cook's derriere so she wasn't missing out on anything.

She heard the plump goblin grumble. "Oaf of a king. Always bringing in women. Of the pretty human persuasion. Us goblins stand no chance. King could do with some big chunks of goblin."

"He won't give goblins a chance."

"That is plain truth!"

"True!"

"I am better than ten of those skinny thingies."

The cook bowed down to pick something up. Elspeth's feet. The room had not cleared. Elspeth could not feel any of them jumping on her. The other goblins had finally lost interest in her. Queen Elspeth was dragged over the floor.

"So I am." replied the squeaky voice, skipping merely along.

"You are a funny little thing."

Elspeth smugly thought of the benefits of being awake without them knowing. She was so at peace with the idea that she returned into unconsciousness. She did not feel her body being hoisted by the cook. She was tipped over an edge and tumbled down a well.

Queen Elspeth woke in darkness. When she looked up she saw a trace of light. She found herself in an oubliette. She had heard about those and never understood their purpose in the Labyrinth. Jareth wanted her to run the labyrinth. She couldn't go anywhere if she was stuck in here. It completely destroyed the purpose of a labyrinth. There were no doors here, there was no one else here. Even to Jareth's despicable low standards this would be too easy a victory.

Her chance at beating the labyrinth had barely begun. Chance, huh, sentence more likely. Perhaps she wasn't supposed to fall in here this early in the game.

Elspeth grunted as she regained consciousness.

"Tsk tsk turning my goblins to stone." The dreams that clouded her mind slowly parted. She rubbed her painful head. "What was the reason? Have they been… naughty? "

"I should have petrified them all."

The slits that were her tired eyes opened further to see Jareth crouched down beside her. "How terribly gób-lin of you." He sounded every bit as annoyed as she was. He also looked very hung-over.

"I trust I didn't cause any inconveniences to you."

"A few casualties. Nothing I couldn't mend"

"I should have tried harder."

There was an angry glare about him. "I forbid you from turning my subjects to stone."

"I don't need your approval, you are not my king yet."

"You do and I am, you overslept your trial time."

He stood up majestically. Her mouth twisted sourly. "You lie."

"Tempus fugit."

"You are very talented at vexing me." Elspeth growled.

"And you are so very attractive when you are scared. But you are right, my sweetling. Your time is not over yet."

"I am not yours." She whispered only for him to hear.

He looked hurt, or some darker emotion related to hurt.

"Behave. There will be no harming my goblins. You will teach them bad manners. I won't let you teach my goblins bad manners. You are a bad influence on them." Jareth sighed. "Have you any idea how exhausting it is to watch you sleep? Your insolence must be paid for." A clock appeared in the air beside him. He pointed at the large hand of the clock. "You have wasted all the time between the numbers 7 and 10 by sleeping. See, the hand is at 10. I am taking as much time from you as you took from me by forcing me to watch you sleep." He was making sleep count as double. She watched furiously as he wound the clock forward to 13 stealing even more time from her. He considered going on but his love for the number 13 prevented him from doing so. He turned back to her with the alternative. "Or you can blow the game off right here and now to make up for the insult. "

"The insult of your labyrinth being a bore?"

"You have less than two hours left if you want to get out of this labyrinth." He smiled. "That eternity is coming closer."

"Perhaps you should think this over. Your goblins aren't that fond of me."

"It boils down to this: You are Snow White here. At the moment most of my goblins want you dead. "

"I noticed that." He adored how understanding she was about these things. It all made sense to her. By ancient goblin logic, you are what you eat. She was what Jareth wanted. To gain more royal attention the goblins should become whatever Jareth wanted by eating her. It is tradition to eat the competition.

"No worries, I'll make them love you." He frowned distractedly. "I really thought you could handle Weech. But here you are… waiting to be eaten. Mind you, preparing the stew broth takes hours. By the time they are done your trial time is up. You leave me no choice. I will have to act."

"Poor you. And you had to come in person because?"

"I am bored." Jareth slacked in a chair that had not been there before. "You bored me into seeing you. I might help you out of sheer boredom."

"You might not. This is your game. If you want to see me play, you'd better provide me with a new course to take."

"Why don't you take the ladder?

"There is no ladder. You don't think I would have noticed a ladder?"

He cocked his head in most unsubtle hinting fashion. She felt compelled to check the room for a ladder. However absurd an invisible ladder might be.

She rose from the floor. She hurt all over. Elspeth traced the borders of her confinement with as much patience as she could muster. She looked up the well at the masked people in her hall looking down at her. They appeared to be enjoying themselves still, even more so with her to laugh at. She pushed her hands up the dusty shaft of her prison. The surface was too smooth to climb. She stalked the few meter she had to her disposal. She would not attack the walls to no avail with him standing there to watch.

"There is nothing here." She leaned back against the wall. Her gaze directed back upwards. There was a couple lounging on the edge of the decorative well. A female arm dangled into Elspeth's sight. The man was kissing down her cleavage. Elspeth saw them rise and fall in the same rhythm. She was not under the impression that someone up there would notice her and pull her up. Even if they did she had no guarantee that she would end up in the same room they were in.

The woman dropped a fan from her trembling hand. It fell down next to Elspeth. She noticed it was one of her own fans. She half-heartedly hoped they would drop a mirror next.

She tried reaching up the hole again. Her right hand bumped into a small rock. The rock proved hard to grip. She found several more uneven stones. With some imagination this could be a ladder. It seemed strong enough to support her. She decided to climb up. She managed half a meter before she ran out of uneven rocks. A bunch of hands caught her by the arms. More hands grabbed at her by the thighs. The hands hoisted her up. The more she fought against the unwanted contact the less enthusiastic their efforts to carry her became.

"Stop it." She ordered. She pulled her skirt down. No doubt the Goblin King was at the bottom peeking up as well. The intrusive hands stopped moving her as she had demanded. This was the moment she realised she was halfway and supported by nothing but hands.

A couple of the hands formed a mouth. Another hand patted her cheek. "Don't you want to go up?"

"Only if you have a ladder for me." Surprisingly obedient a large group of hands formed a ladder whole the way up to the ballroom. Meanwhile most of the other hands kept holding her in place.

Elspeth put one foot on a handmade sport and grinded it to test for strength. It was holding. She broke free of the hands' hold to climb on the ladder. The hand that had remained on her cheek pinched her. As soon as she stood on the ladder all hands let go and retreated into the wall. Elspeth fell straight down again.

Jareth had gallantly stepped aside. The fall was not as painful as she had expected. She covered her bruised cheek with the softness of her palm. "Don't turn ugly." she whispered to herself. She looked up. "You jerk!"

She reached for her head. Her crown was gone. The hands had unbraided her hair and taken off her jewellery, except for the lacy black choker she wore today. Her earrings and crown were on the filthy floor. She wiped the dirt from her hands and her quickly staining golden dress. She looked unwell.

She ignored the don't-throw-up-on-me expression that flashed across Jareth's face.

"So I lied about the ladder. Don't give up yet." Jareth took her hand, he brought it to his lips but did not touch. His lack of courtesy left her frustrated yet again. "You are so suspicious of me, my dear Elspeth." She pulled her hand free. He did not object in the slightest. "I am merely looking for entertainment. You entertain me. You look exhausted."

She saw where this was going: back to the apple. "I can do without food for three hours."

"Weech didn't feed you then? I happen to know that you haven't eaten properly all day. While you usually have a very healthy appetite. Was that prince the cause? You will have to eat something. " He sounded concerned. She got tired of walking in the same circle of oubliette. She faced him. "I don't want you to faint from hunger."

"If I get hungry I will catch a chicken."

"I'd like to see that " He smiled, expecting her to illustrate it at once. Elspeth threw him a soft reluctant look.

He picked up her trinkets. "These will be waiting for you at the finish line. I am bored Elspeth. Entertain me. Run the Labyrinth. This tactic is not getting you anywhere. You can't bore me into giving you the mirror."

"I won't stay in this filthy place."

"I had a suspicion you would not like the oubliette. Don't worry, I know much better places for you. My rules dictate that you will be taken back to the beginning. I am willing to make an exception."

"So you are aware that there are rules."

"Yes, but only so few, take no notice of them.

"The main rule is you make the rules?

"You hit the goblin on the head, sweetling. That old oubliette rule is just not exciting enough, I shall have to improvise. " He snapped his fingers.

The ground shook.

"Are you still counting on prince Teddy Bear to save you?" He asked as if this were the perfect moment for a small talk.

"Believe me, Jareth, you are wasting more thought on prince Alfred than I am."

Above she could hear a loud pounding. The goblin people had started to run out of the room. A black monstrosity came crashing through a wall of her ballroom into the turmoil.

"What the hell have you done?" Queen Elspeth shouted.

A cleaner, she thought at first catching a glimpse of armour. It was larger than that. It appeared to be a living battering-ram. It was much like a train but moved differently, like an insect. She was not quite certain if the part facing forward was the head. It was also oddly oval of form. Once the room was cleared of goblins and general living things and filled with rumble, it leaned over the well.

Its shape became more slender to fit the oubliette. It stormed down the shaft. Elspeth did not waste time wondering what it was. It would crush her in a second.

"Ladies first." Jareth opened a door out of nowhere and Elspeth ran through it. She heard the beast crash into the wall behind her. Jareth was not coming behind, she did not mind. The crash bought her little time. It adjusted its size again.

She ran through the corridor. It was littered with broken old grandfather clocks. She hoped her feet would not get stuck in one of them. The floor was not to be seen. She crashed into the clocks as she ran. Pieces of glass and wood pierced her legs but did not cut her. She fell several times. The quietness in this corridor of clocks was disconcerting.

She took numerous turns but the whatever it was would not be fooled. It tracked her down every time. She arrived at another junction. It consisted of two mirrors. She barely glanced in one of them before she stepped right through it. Even in that glance of her reflection she was overcome by horror.

The door closed behind her. Because it is logical in the Labyrinth that a mirror should turn into a door. Queen Elspeth continued to run. She recognized this corridor, from the second floor of her palace. None of the doors she passed were right and almost every detail was off but she did recognize it. The trainlike creature or piece of goblin machinery adjusted to the keyhole of the door-turned-mirror. It slid down the door and rode on faster than Elspeth could run. It caught up with her. She slowed down her pace. As the thing rode by she stepped on it. It was dead.

Elspeth took a look around. Jareth had led her there. It was safe to assume he had as far removed from her goal as he could. A door opened. A chubby goblin with its back turned towards her struggled to close the door again. The goblin was carrying more trays than any human could.

"You there. Where is the centre of the Labyrinth?" Elspeth had the nasty feeling that most goblins knew the Labyrinth as well as she did. But she had no choice. If needed she would follow directions of another who did not have a clue and make the best of it.

The goblin turned to face her, much to Elspeth's surprise it did not drop any of the trays. The curly haired being looked her angrily in the eye.

"Not you again. Don't you ever stay up… down… in your kitchen?"

"No, I am everywhere at once. How else could I feed every goblin there is?"

Elspeth ignored her and continued walking down the hall. It did not have its cooking equipment with her, it was harmless and useless. "Got this far have you, dearie? Did you get this far dearie? How you got this far, dearie? Where you going?"

Elspeth was irritated into talking. "You are not going to capture and boil me?"

"No need, the cauldron's too far. Pity. You have a tasty heart. I sense such things. I would like to eat your heart. It is the golden rule of cooking: There is no good stew without a heart in it."

"Yes, I know."

"How you know about goblin cooking? It is a secret art. It is all a secret. Most of the time I don't even know what I put in my dishes."

"Look I need the find the centre of the labyrinth."

"The centre, do we even have a centre?"

"I thought you knew every place in the labyrinth."

"In it, yes. Not outside. I don't do exits."

"Don't you feed the guards?"

"We have guards everywhere! Who's to say which stand at the centre or border? I bet you they don't even know. It might be easier to cook you than to find your exit after all."

"Do you know what the centre looks like?" The goblin shrugged with a rude noise. The queen pressured on. "If the Labyrinth were a stew what would its heart be?"

"It must be the castle you are looking for, all humans look for the castle."

"This is a castle."

"Noaaw, the one beyond the Goblin City. Look!"

Elspeth went to the row of windows. No two windows showed the same image. She looked at the one the goblin pointed at. It showed the rest of the Underground. She thought it would be dirty outside but the window provided her with a lush golden view over that lousy Labyrinth. The stone mazes, the hedge mazes behind those. It seemed so neatly organizes. So very deceptive. She saw her palace gardens border to the vast stone entrance of his Labyrinth. And far in the distanced she could see Jareth's castle. That nasty cheat. She hadn't even made it into the actual labyrinth yet.

"Have it your way, bastard."

Elspeth punched the glass hard. It moved away from her hand. She glared at the glass. She had not lost all magic by losing her mirror. She made the glass solid, took a shoe and smashed the heel against it. The glass bloke. The cold flew in.

Sparkling air blew inside. She had to close her eyes. She fought the wind that lashed into her face. Suddenly she stood in the soft grass below. No climbing down had been necessary. No risk of helping hands coming out of the wall to grope at her.

She could see her way before her. It looked like the actual Labyrinth would consist of the same she had being doing so far: a lot of running and falling.

All this was probably taking her to his bedroom anyway.

Comments and feedback are appreciated. Also about the train analogy. I am not certain if Ellie knows trains. The setting of her film would say no, but somehow her character says yes.


	4. Glitter in the Garden

Queen Elspeth stalked through her garden. She had not reached the labyrinth yet. All this time she thought she was getting somewhere and she had not even passed the front gate.

Like the rest of her castle the garden was covered in a thick layer of glitter. Jareth would be in trouble for this had she not liked glitter. She had taken a moment to brush the dirt of her dress and sort out her hair by gathering the sloppy front tresses into a new braid. By doing this she felt much more in control of the situation.

There were goblins, of course, as far as the eye could see. Goblins of the small ugly kind leap frogging in her garden. Her lips scowled in disgust. She would have to make her way through them. She also spotted a line of what seemed like scarecrows in shining armour in front of her castle walls watching the bumbling goblins. They appeared to be standing guard.

Her garden gnome were still there, lifeless as they should be. That was a small comfort. Of course those pesky goblins did engage the statues in their play and some perished. Some of the goblins were ridiculing her garden gnomes stances. The goblins reminded her of her gnomes, or she had collected gnomes because they reminded her of goblins. That was a shudder worthy thought. In any case the goblins were clearly the uglier option. They were not as clean, disgustingly well behaved, colourful, falsely cheerful as her favourite decorations. She did not like either of them in a mobile state. She became more annoyed by the second. So she decided to do something about it.

King Jareth was lying down in the sparkling grass. His arms snug behind his head he lounged in the far ends of Elspeth's garden. The entrance of his labyrinth close behind him. He watched his goblins climb up there. They ran over the massive wall separating the garden from the Labyrinth and fell back down in the garden. He had made their familiar surroundings inaccessible to them. That was how he had decided the challenge would work this time. He basked in the sunlight of his oncoming triumph with a relaxed smile on his face.

Two goblins walked away from Elspeth's garden frenzy into their king's direction. They felt very pleased with themselves. Jareth saw them approach from a distance. It tickled his curiosity to see the goblins march determined to the wall with the sole intend to climb over it.

"Is funny how she screams…" he heard one say.

"with every step!" They cried in disharmony.

"Stop, turn. Where are you two wobbling off to?"

"Off to the home slimepit."

"I ordered you to stay in the new part of the labyrinth."

"Yeah but we like missy human. We'll leave her alone"

The creature was not great on the thinking front. Jareth jumped to his feet. He tapped the goblin's nose. "If you like her, go back and prevent her from solving the labyrinth. And tell your friends!"

"Oh ok."

"If king says so."

A naughty cunning flickered in Jareth's eyes. "One more thing, let everyone know she is a goblin by birth."

The goblin called Skunk tried to master the art of frowning. "Pretty goblin?"

"Yes, pretty goblin. Hop to it!"

"Certain petrification here we come!" One goblin cheered. They marched back to Elspeth's territory.

"We'll look splendid in that garden."

"I wonder if it will wear off."

"Wait." Jareth spoke. "She made it to the garden?" He smiled and decided to follow.

Elspeth slowed down. She saw no more moving goblins. They had taken it well. They had acted as if they were playing a game of statues. There had been two late comers. She arranged them with the garden gnomes. How charming those stone gnomes were. How vile the goblins. They matched nicely. Goblins, like revolting toddlers. Laughing like idiots. They destroy whatever they can get their slimy dirty hands on.

"Ellie Ellie Ellie, you seem very set on getting yourself in trouble."

The queen glanced up at him, then continued to rearrange her statues in her garden. She did not care if she lost time over that. She needed it to calm down. She would lose her sanity otherwise. She turned a bright blue gnome towards the sun so it would catch the light nicely.

"I told you not to harm my subjects."

Elspeth walked to the other side of him. She put a goblin making a rude gesture to face a frightened gnome.

"Charming."

"My thoughts exactly." She gave him a wry smile. "You can't leave me alone for one second, can you goblin king?"

"Not if you keep misbehaving." He inspected one of her sculptures and knocked on its hollow head. "It turns out my goblins love you being horrible."

"Good for them. Will you not punish me now?" She mocked.

His smile told her he had something far more brilliant in mind. "Already have."

"Judging on your behaviour I sincerely doubt you want to get out of the labyrinth." His eyes roamed the garden. "You are settling in nicely. If you are that keen on staying here you only need to say the words." For one frightening moment he stood right behind her. She could not see him from the corner of her eye. "You like it here." He watched her suppressed shudder.

She slowly turned around. He stroked her jaw. "If I were cruel you'd be babysitting goblins now." How sickeningly considerate he believed himself to be. She opened her mouth a bit. She met his lips and lets him kiss her

"This must be my birthday." She moved closer against him and took possession of his lip glossed smirk. She was about to deepen the kiss when she felt him chuckle.

"What is it?"

"You can't kiss your way through the labyrinth, sweetling." He enjoyed the sharp look she gave him. "You'll have all the time for this when you lose."

"Oh will I?"

"You'll be in charge of washing my feet too. Why do you look sad? I am the one who lost a dozen goblins. You are looking… What áre you thinking? Mind reading is one thing I don't do."

"Can't." she corrected him.

She had tried to ignore his dashing clothes. It were just clothes. Naturally her next involuntary step was to imagine him without clothes. To seduce him would not win her time. It would cost her time. He saw her pensive face.

"Are you losing hope on winning?"

She licked her lips and saw him grin. She had tasted everything she wanted on those lips.

She folded her arms. "I have a preposition for you, goblin king. A truce."

"And what might that be?" He teased. His hands already lingered on the back of her neck to take her necklace off. This was the time to invite him to her bed after all.

"Are you a compulsory thief?" Her smug smile rivalled his as she leaned in and took another kiss to sample his talent. Her choker fell from his graceful hands into the grass.

He grabbed her by the waist. His fingers began opening her dress. "You insist on making my day, sweetling."

They indulged in a passionate game of teasing. The goblin king was very playful by nature, so was she. The both of them desired control. They kept challenging each other's desire to see who gave in first. They both did. And quite fast at that. The clothes that had been in their way were soon put out of the way by the opposing party. They were both used to taking what they want. They were eager to get a taste or a bite of the other and they knew it so well they would not stop denying the other what he or she wanted out of sheer spite. They had both been very close to making the other beg. Despite their rivalry they now strove to a common goal. She won some ground by managing to turn him over during their play and pin him to the ground. He could easily have swapped places again, but the view was delightful. When she insisted on riding him he chose for the most gallant option, he let her have the upper hand because that would please him most. Queen Elspeth liked to look down on him as she guided them both to climax. She was aided on that way by his tender touches. He knew very well how to please. She was on top of the goblin king. His gloved hand was firmly wrapped up in her hair. Whenever his eyes met hers her breath got caught in her throat. But this could not compare to how he made the rest of her body feel. Beautiful. She flicked her hair proudly over her shoulder.

Enchanting in afterglow she kisses him and slid off him. He brushed her orange hair aside and kissed the back of her neck, tugging her back into his embrace. They still softly panted. The breathing down her neck resounded in the pounding down the lower regions her body. Jareth turned her face back towards him and returned a lingering kiss. He did not have to temp her back into willingness. She was ready and wanting for another round. She took it when offered.

They were safe from the prying eyes of goblins, moving or otherwise. Either he had placed some spell around them or the goblins stayed clear of the noise. The second option did not seem very probable. Goblins were incapable of ignoring noise and it was known that excitement of any kind attracted them.

This was a shorter, more invigorating round. No words were exchanged. Only grins. The pressure of his hand down her back gave her that pleasant extra push when she arched her back. She snaked her arms under his slightly torn shirt. Her body rose to meet his. She clutched to his back, digging her fingers in his flesh. He thought he had won when she cried out for him. The foolishness of men. Queen Elspeth raked her nails down his back. She could tell he enjoyed it. He came with a deep moan in that instant. The goblin king smirked victoriously at her. His hand stroked down her neck. She enjoyed the warmth of his body against hers a few moments longer. Then stretched out on the grass like a great cat enjoying the sun. Jareth caught her invitingly parted lips.

When she decided to move out of his arms she heard the ticking of a clock in the distance. Her time was running again.

She sat up and hoisted her arms into the reluctant sleeves of her dress.

"Let go, Jareth."

"Ask nicely." he grinned. His hands stroked her hips under the skirt.

"Please," she commanded softly. A word not well known to her lips. "remove your hands."

The layers of her skirt fell back down as she rose. "Your muddy maze ruined my shoes." She put on his boots.

"Labyrinth." he corrected.

"Lace me up." He took the cords in his hands and gave them a pensive look.

"But you are much more fun with the dress off." Under that whine he laced the dress as she had asked.

"I am going to solve this labyrinth."

"Why? Your time is almost up. "

"I am not going to stay with goblins, thank you very much."

"You're welcome." He gathered her in his arms and pressed a kiss on her shoulder. "You can be amongst your own kind here. It is nice, isn't it, someone who wants to keep you, forever."

Elspeth was standing very close to him again. She resisted both getting more intimate and running away. She did not want him to know what power he had won over her. She took a step away from him taking her farewell. He twirled her back into his arms. "Won't you dance a while longer with me?" She removed his hands from her person. "You are being ridiculous, Ellie."

She turned around to determinedly walk out of the garden and looked right at him again.

"Will you stop doing that?!" His arms locked around her waist.

"Let go of me." She would have to fight to escape.

"You take advantage of my hospitality, Elspeth, sweetling. You can't have fun ánd games. You must take the consequences of your actions into account." He brushed her hair aside and whispered to her neck: "You'd better run."

A small group of goblins had reentered their world. She heard them snicker. Goblin babe?

"You didn't…"

"Tell them of your true nature? Of course I did."

"You disgusting repulsive revolting dirty cheat." She couldn't find breath to continue insulting him. That was her biggest secret!

"You gave me no choice." he said in a pitiful tone. It went hand in hand with a devious gleam in his eyes. "You know what they say once a goblin always a goblin."

A crowd emerged from the palace carrying pitchforks, sticks, toilet cleaners and more random items. She stroke the goblins down that clung to her dress wanting crawl or peek under it. She had to run.

Jareth returned to his castle even more satisfied of himself than usual. "She'll be begging me to stay next." A member of the small group of goblins he had allowed to stay in the castle ran up to him. "This is going to be entirely my pleasure."

"Sir sir er king."

"What is it?"

The goblin pointed to a stray crystal ball on the floor. "She is rockifying more people, sir."

"Not again."


	5. Fashionable Entrance

This is the prelude to the finale Mirror or Mirage. Since I have been struggling with the end chapter I thought I might as well cut it up. :)

"Pwetty goblin!" they cried.

Queen Elspeth had an army of goblins chasing after her. Luckily they ran into the wrong direction, for the time being. It was easier to predict where a beheaded chicken was heading than where these creatures were off to. From where she was standing she still had a view on her garden. She would have thought the hedge maze to be the first place anyone would look for her. She had not taken the goblins' dimness into account. They overlooked the obvious hiding place.

Jareth's subjects were indeed very eager to have her. Bite marks marred her legs. Her dress was torn and darkened where hands had grabbed at her and generally smeared her with dirt. Perhaps she should be thankful she still had her dress. She quickly discarded that thought. Thankfulness was not her style. Trickery however was Jareth's expertise. She recognized the courtesy he had paid her by not to taking away her clothes when he could have. That was the most respect she could muster for him at the time. The notion of having to run the Labyrinth naked oh Jareth you know how to make a girl feel humbled. How very childish you are. To steal a poor girl's clothes. It dawned on her that she had left her undergarments behind. That would be a rather silly thing to complain about. "I will get you for this." She smiled. Too silly. She had taken to talking to herself many years ago, even before she had her mirror to brighten her conversations by providing an admirable view and equally pleasing answers.

From her hiding place she heard a fresh horde of goblins storm out of the castle. She risked taking a peek. The cook was the head of the horde. She ploughed forward, loosing many of the pots and pans stacked upon her back in the process. In her eager hands she held an axe. Queen Elspeth drew further back into the hedge maze of her garden. Naturally in Jareth's realm this maze was much more complex than it had been. She crept into a dead end.

"I have to get this over with." She grinded her feet in the dirt and crouched down. "What now? If I reach the border of the Labyrinth, it is covered in goblins. The wall is too high to climb. Those pests manage it somehow, but they fall back down at this side. The wall has to be booby-trapped. Yet there must be some nonsensical way to get through. Or I find some transportation that can smash it. Do I even have time for this?" Her trail of thought had reached a dead end, much like she had too. She would not sit here and wait for them to find her.

A tapping on her wrist made her open her eyes. She looked into a pair of fearless wide open eyes.

"I'm the goblin everyone's looking for aren't I?" A shrill voice erupted from under the staring eyes.

"No."

The tiny goblin figurine looked sad. "I think I am."

"No you're not." Elspeth shook the goblin off her arm. It stayed put. It looked at her as if the queen had not moved at all.

"I have to be." It cried out. Loud enough for goblins afar to hear.

"Be quiet!" Elspeth threw another harsh wave of her arm. The goblin stuck onto her like glue.

"Oh" It raised a finger to her lips. "be quiet."

"If they hear you I am done for…"

The little goblin tiptoed merrily over Elspeth's leg. "Theeeey." It interrupted suddenly understanding. "The goblins."

"You are a goblin yourself." Elspeth stood up grumpily.

"I bet you we're related." The swift answer rang. Nothing could have prepared Elspeth for that remark. Deadly horror and disgust showed on her face. The little sprite did not notice. "Goblin by birth, raised in a human land. My my that is one interesting history I have." The goblin hiked unto Elspeth's shoulder like a parrot. It tapped its foot again. "I insist you help me. I have to get to the centre."

"What?"

"It's my quest. To retrieve what is most precious to me from the evil goblin king."

The damned thing was applying Elspeth's misery to herself. "Copycatting will get you nowhere. I am the one in trouble here. You'd better start looking for a way out."

"I copy no cat!"

Elspeth had heard the goblins' cries and commands as they marched blindly past the hedge maze. Most of them were determined to take her to their king. The cook and her select portion of the kitchen crew were still planning on dragging her back to the kitchen and cook her for lunch. "They were ordered to take me to his castle. That means the centre of the labyrinth is not there."

"Yeah it is."

"This is not his labyrinth."

"Yeah it is."

"This is my labyrinth."

"Yeah it is."

Elspeth glanced at the unhelpful sprite.

"It was made to suit me. I know where the heart of my own labyrinth is. I have to get back into the castle."

"Yay!"

Queen Elspeth made her way back out of the maze. After encountering several curly iron gates that blocked her way and even more dead ends she crafted -blasted some inconspicuous holes in the hedges to fashion herself a straight route out.

The goblin she could not lose jumped out of the last hole into the garden. "I am a magic queen! "

Queen Elspeth peered around the corner. The way to the castle gate was clear. All goblins, except for the guards around her castle, had ventured further into the garden.

"Oh look my friends!" The small goblin pointed at a vast army of junk ladies in the distance. These were bumping into each other while going through each other's junk to find the pretty goblin.

"Replica?"

"Yes miss?" The goblin piled her hair up in a braid resembling Elspeth's.

"Shut it. "

Elspeth started to walk to her castle. Replica hopped along.

"Hey they call me that too. Rep. Lic. A. " The goblin said thinking it a revelation. "Replica of what? I don't know." She whined as she underwent her small identity crises. Then she changed her style to majestic strides. "I must be quiet for goblin hunters. They will find me. "

The castle door swung open to the inside as queen Elspeth approached. The guards drew their swordlike spears.

"Swordsticks." Replica informed sounding frightened.

"Relax, boys. The game is over. I lost. Let me through."

"She takes us for guards"

"We are not guards."

A dull fed up expression came over Elspeth. She had had it with this place and its inhabitants. "You stand by a door, wear armour and weapons. What else could you be? "

"Thèse are the finest clothes in all the labyrinth. We are models." The frighteningly tall skinny goblin underneath the armour performed a haughty chin lift which the aerodynamic helmet it was wearing enhanced even further.

The other joined in. "Does no one respect fashion? "

"Is that supposed to be a dress, guard?" Elspeth's small companion equally haughtily tapped a model's shiny armour and skipped back in fear when it moved.

The other fixated its gaze on Elspeth, believing she had spoken. "Don't get me started on what you are wearing."

Her eyes blazed in fury. "Let me through. This instant! "

"We cannot."

"Jareth never tells his subjects anything, does he?" She flaunted with a continues glare. "I am your queen now. You know that is why your king brought me here." Questioning and discarding looks were exchanged. She would have to try harder to persuade them. "He wants me to pick up some personal belongings from my castle. Be a couple of dears and decide before dark if you are going to let me in. I am expected back in his chambers. If you delay me it will cost you."

"Your majesty. " They bowed, lowering the tips of their spears the floor and let her pass. The spears, she gathered, were mere accessories to their outfit. She doubted they could wield them.

"And I want one of these." As if reading Elspeth's mind Replica took a knife from a model's belt.

"Give it here." Elspeth held out her hand. Replica willingly handed the knife over.

She had expected to find at least some fireys in the corridor or a couple of idiotic trolls to shoo out of the way. Stray goblins were not that different from human servants, or dogs really. The annoying things just needed to be pushed into their proper place.

The castle corridors were completely deserted. Queen Elspeth made haste. She did not run. She did not want to stumble into any trouble left around the place. This quest was challenging enough as it was since the rooms continued not to be in their original places in the building.

Next to her ear Replica's tummy grumbled. It surprised the hell out of Elspeth to notice her unwanted company was still present.

"Get off." She wiped the tiny goblin off her shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to find what the Goblin King took. My life depends upon it."

"Alright. You can come with me."

The creature's tummy grumbled again. Queen Elspeth smiled. A hungry goblin was just what she needed to catch the only person apart from Jareth who knew where every place was in the Labyrinth, the cook.

She asked juicily. "Would you like something to eat? A lamb chop perhaps?"

"Chop chop." The sprite sung, then hung her head in defeat. "No, I will not eat when I must find my most precious possession."

"And what is that?" Elspeth asked, sarcasm dripping from her words.

Replica curled her toes in an attempt to accomplish some serious thinking. "Oh I will remember when I have to."

"Replica, I am feeling quite peckish myself from all this running."

The sprite hopped to the ground, delighted that she had been given permission to be hungry. "Yes, madame! I'd adore a chop of something!"

No sooner had she said the words or the goblins' faithful cook came walking around the corner.

She took one look at Elspeth, her axe at the ready. "We'd all like a piece of her."

"If you try that, you will be the one ending up in the cauldron."

"You canut impress me by being a caninchen canninibal."

Elspeth shook her head. "Cannibal. Show me a way out of the labyrinth. No tricks or riddles this time. Or I will put you in that cauldron of yours." She drew her dagger.

"You don't know where you are going, missy." She looked up. Her bared neck defied the tip of the dagger.

"I doooes," Replica squeeled. "the centre!"

"The centre ha!"

"Can I get my food now?" Replica whispered.

"I know exactly where I am going" Queen Elspeth interrupted. "and I am in a hurry."

"Where to then?"

"My mirror room, if you please or not."

"I know where that room went to." The plump goblin grunted and started to limp back the way she had come with a rude reluctance. Queen Elspeth put her knife away. She and her small stalker followed Weech.

The cook remembered the duty that had called her there in the first place and handed the small goblin a piece of meat barely smaller than Replica herself. "You being goblin turned everything around."

"I noticed." Elspeth replied sharply, indicating it a topic she was not prepared to discuss.

"Others would do anything but eat you to make you lose. Want to capture and dress you up for the king! Make you pretty and goblin. If they caught you. The old ladies 'd be telling you stories of when they were young. Their childhood crushes are scarier than mine. Then put some pretty purple ribbons on you."

"To choke me with I am sure."

"And make you more goblin by throwing mud."

"Or worse."

"It's preposterous and sick goblin behaviour. They should be ashamed. You is a traitor to all goblins. I don't want you here. Goblin or redhead. You're not even good enough to eat anymore." That was the lowest insult this malicious omnivorous creature could give to anyone. "To leave goblin city and take on a human form. It should be illegible."

"Illegal." Elspeth corrected boredly.

"You deserve to die."

"Then you should have packed a bigger cooking pot."

Replica was eating her lamb, or something else, chop in silence.

Weech gave up on holding a conversation.

In all rooms and corridors there were clocks present in complete silence. The clocks were classic old fashioned ones counting thirteen hours. Some hung from a wall, others lied around on the floor, some dripped off a table like hot wax. None of them worked.

"He is taunting me." Elspeth muttered annoyed. She had no idea how little time she had left.

The walk took forever in her mind. They came across a limited number of goblins along the way. She petrified those to be done with them.

"She doesn't like me." Replica muttered, eying the on marching cook. "She will send me in the wrong direction."

"No she won't. Weech wants me gone. The only one who would help me escape is someone who hates me. She will get me out."

"Are you not afraid she will detour me?" The sprite swallowed in fear. "To the kitchen?"

Elspeth answered to organize her own thoughts, not to comfort the goblin. "Any detour would be pointless. A delay would only make Jareth win. She can't kill me it would displease him too much and the others would fry her for it. Besides I am tough to kill and I am armed. There is too little time of my challenge left to cook me in. It takes hours to tender the meat and she would have to get rid of the evidence. No, this is her safest option."

"If miss is certain…"

"Here's is. I'm off now." Weech slumped off. She had left them in front of a small broom closet door. Queen Elspeth was glad to be rid of her. Now there was only one goblin left to ditch.

She pushed the door open with relieved surge of confidence. She knew this sense of empowerment to be hopelessly premature but she couldn't care less. She was entering her stronghold.

"This is it, Goblin King."


	6. Mirror or Mirage

Aka Under pressure.

Because the song started to play on the tele by some mysterious coincidence as I was finishing up this part of the chapter.

I struggled a great deal with this chapter. I should have it proofread but I have no patience left. I must upload this and be done with it for now. :) Please do point out mistakes I overlooked.

First and foremost: Enjoy!

* * *

Her mirror room would of course not look the same. Queen Elspeth had been expecting this. In the back of her mind a picture had involuntary formed itself of rows and rows of Snow White's image. Combined with this another picture had grown. All her mirrors shattered to nothing and goblins dancing in the debris of her dreams.

The room in question was black. Elspeth suspiciously squinted her eyes. She reached forward into the darkness, for there was no other way, and her hand found the familiar touch of wood. Her left hand found the same on its side. She took a step forward into blindness. This was the way to her circle of mirrors. She traced her steps with both hands through the short corridor leading up to her sanctuary. She had decided she would keep to her right side when the walls parted into a circle. Instead of encountering a curve at the threshold of the room the walls remained at close proximity on either side of her. There was no turning of the wall for her to follow and thus her way remained straight forward. The wood panels on either side of her had turned into the touch of smooth mirror glass.

"ooooh I feel a strong negative energy here." Her small stalker squeaked.

Elspeth commanded her heart not to startle. She hoarsely replied to her. "He turned my mirrors into a labyrinth. A nightly palace of mirrors. "

A poignant unease came over her. She heard a whistling and the clamorous tip toing of goblin feet.

"Replica?"

A snickering. Other goblins. Naturally, there would be goblins here. She would get them.

It was impossible to tell what direction the sound had come from. She forced her eyes to make out forms. Goblins had vandalized her room, she was certain of it. She recognized her own silhouette reflected in the mirrors. These must be the kind of mirrors you see in silly carnivals for they made her look notably more substantial around the waist. She stroked her dress even and looked down her waist to assure herself of the truth. Her beautiful true self was still intact. How she despised the goblin mirrors already. There would be a stage two in which the lights went on. She would not like to be here when that happened, but she figured that would be Jareth's decision.

Replica pressed her face against the glass. She peered into one of the darkened mirrors to catch a glimpse of her reflection. With a soft plop she was gone. Elspeth didn't mind. She preferred doing this alone. The mouse goblin was beginning to annoy her.

She could hear no more evidence of goblins keeping an eye on her. She walked on cautiously. Gradually her attention shifted to the mirrors themselves. Going by the vague contours of her silhouette in her reflections there was not one amongst them that reflected herself as she was. In a bit of a panic she leaned in closer to one of them. She could now make out her eyes staring back at her. Those eyes certainly were the same form as hers. The colour she could not quite make out. The darkness reduced everything to a shade of grey. Then her gaze lifted. She saw the flicker of her eyebrow jewellery. Her eyes landed on bushier eyebrows. Queen Elspeth drew back with a scream.

The goblin laughter returned.

That was not her. It was not her.

"JARETH!" She screamed at the top of her lungs.

The lights went on.

Then she truly screamed. She had anticipated this revelation and its impact was still too much to bare.

Queen Elspeth ran through the rows of mirrors keeping her eyes averted from her reflection as much as possible. She had to find the heart of this labyrinth. Damn the mirrors and their false reflections. She continuously nearly stumbled. There were no dead ends. There was nothing to indicate if she was going into the right direction. There were only more mirrors. An endless supply of mirrors to keep her captive. None of which showed herself.

She came to a halt when one mirror held a vastly different figure. His hands planted confidently in his sides, Jareth strode out of the mirror.

Elspeth straightened her back in a vain attempt to regain her calm. "You had to come."

"I do so like it when you scream my name."

She tucked her dishevelled hair behind her ears. "Give me my reflection back." She slightly panted. "Or I'll scream and claw." He looked amused, again. She went on mocking him. "You do so like it when I claw my fingers down your back in ecstasy, don't you?"

She couldn't help notice the faint orange eye shadow he was wearing. He had dressed for the occasion. "Not now, sweetling. This isn't the time." He hintingly tapped his thin lips. She would not kiss him. He set off on his little act. "We have been expecting you here. I am pleased you could make it, it was a bit last minute insight there. At least you are here now. As you see I had this prepared for you from the very start. It is your grande finale."

He waved his hand both casually and ostentiously. The mirrors around them rearranged themselves into an oval shape.

"No." She looked for a way out like an entrapped animal. When the oval fully closed there was no chance left. She found herself surrounded and encircled by images of who she was not.

"I am not afraid of mirrors."

"Oh aren't you? No, you clearly love them." She wore gloved hands on her shoulders.

"I preferred the room with the lights off." She sneered.

He pinched her shoulders. "Don't be that unfriendly to your counterparts. Instead take a deep breath, calm down, …"

"They are ugly."

"Unflattering perhaps, but not without a certain appeal. You know of the appeal of gobliness as well as I do. You still wear it on the inside, Elspeth, take a moment to say hello to yourself. You Are Beautiful."

"Ugly." She muttered, at a loss for any other words.

She needed all her will power to keep her knees from getting too weak to stand.

He pushed her slightly forward, knowing what he risked by doing this, a slap in the face at her kindest. He trusted the shock she was in annulled that horrendous fate. "Recognise this as an opportunity to meet your true reflection."

She drew away from him. "This" She motioned to herself. "is not a disguise. It is who I am and I am not going back to that!" Her finger furiously pointed at one of the mirrors.

He waited for her to steady herself. She needed a moment to take it all in, he understood that. The Goblin King was nothing if not understanding. So he smiled sympathetically at her. Vexing her even more.

Elspeth's thoughts drifted for a moment. This was a place resembled a circle. A circle might indicate that this was the centre, the heart of the labyrinth. Her mirror should be here something. If this was her mirror room it would be standing in its usual place in the middle. In this reality there was nothing there but her and Jareth.

She shielded her eyes from the mirrors. She was about to speak about the mirror finding matter at hand when she interrupted herself. "Oh why must you be so dashingly handsome. It is really distracting."

"Yes, it is quite effective." He gloated. She wasn't surprised a man so full of himself he would use his beauty as a distraction to others.

"You have me all figured out."

"Not yet." Queen Elspeth kept her eyes away from the mirrors, and from him as if shielding herself from a bright light.

Jareth took her under his protective arm as he went for a softer approach. "I also once believed that having competitors run the labyrinth by night would make it more fun. It certainly makes it more difficult for them. I tried it a few times. It didn't work out that well. Some broken bones, out-of-their-wits frights but no real laughs. Watching someone stumble in the dark isn't half as much fun as I expected. Not even in owly night vision."

"You only use it for dramatic effect these days?" He smiled his typical charming cunning smile.

"On occasion I make it rain, but then the goblins complain about armour rust. It is not easy being goblin king."

"Can we get back to business?" She stamped her heel most urgently. She tried to hit his foot and missed.

Jareth continued to kindly divert her from the real problem. "It is a shame what happened to the companion you chose." Elspeth couldn't care less. She focused on the mirror frames and wooden floor. Most of all she focused on the most pleasant sensation of having him near. In this more or less safer state her anger boiled up freely within her. She missed some of what he was talking about. "…to disappear on you like that. Was it a trapdoor activated when she touched the mirror? Or did she fall through the glass? It's quite simple really. She is dead. Replica does that when she is confronted with her reflection. It unravels her. In some time she will pop back up somewhere in the labyrinth."

Jareth glanced at Elspeth's uncaring glare. Surely she couldn't keep up being angry all the time. He released her shoulders. With his touch gone her vision and thoughts of panic tumbled back to the reality she attempted to shield herself from. Her mind woke to register her reflections staring back at her. These images flooded from her wide open eyes to her mind's eye pounding on her innermost self until there would be nothing left to destroy. Her arms hung calmly by her sides. She did not remember lowering them. Whatever brainwashing he and these mirrors were up to, he was good at it.

She tore away from his reach. And of course he was standing right in front of her again.

One second to the next her mirror room had changed its appearance to reprise its role of labyrinth. Biting hot tears crawled from her eyes. Beside herself with every negative emotion she could possibly feel she fought to keep her facial expression in a less fear filled state. She naturally went for heavy indignation.

"You have thirteen minutes left and a hundred times as many mirrors to choose from. The right mirror will earn you back your tiny magic one with the flowery design." He waited for a thank you or at least some acknowledgement of his helpfulness. When this clearly wasn't coming he raised an eyebrow at the woman. She was not looking at him. A flirtatious flickering of light had drawn her gaze back to her reflections.

Queen Elspeth tried not to scrunch her eyes too much to get a better look at the reflections she was supposed to choose from or she would keep them shut forever. Her second instinctive reaction to protect herself from these horrid reflections was to bury her face against his chest, that being the nearest hiding place, and take her disbelief out on him with wild screams and hitting.

Tears pained her eyes but refused to leave them. Her blazing fury and abhorrence were directed exclusively at the mirrors. Jareth's was presence near forgotten. The Goblin King, so cruel crueler than he believed himself to be, stroked the back of her head. The touch said: You don't have to look, you can give up whenever you say the words.

Her voice scraped her throat. "When I make my choice I just walk through it? "

"Yes."

"The mirrors will trick me."

Jareth's private smile did not waver.

She stood bravely in front of a mirror showing the self she had been before her brother's spell. "How do I even know my mirror is in one of these mirrors with only your word?"

He held his hands up in innocence. "Search me." A malicious look indicated he wanted her to.

"I have grown tired of your games, Goblin King. Give it back."

As always susceptible and compliant to one's wishes Jareth raised a hand. A gold dusted smoke formed itself above his hand into a ghost of glass and wood. It melted into her mirror held in his hand.

That trick again. Mirror or mirage she grabbed for it.

He hid it childishly behind his back. "And now it's gone."

The Goblin King evaporated before her eyes and took what was most likely an illusion of her mirror with him. Her hungry hands grasped for it. She fell right through him.

She expected a dramatic entrance next when he returned from some nook or cranny behind her. One thing she did not consider was that he might not come back at all. If he dared leave her in that place on her own she would go mad. Her stomach turned whenever she did as much as glance at those reflections. This common funfair attraction was ridiculous. All the reflections were the same. She demanded with extra glaring that he returned. She did not wish. Wishing was too desperate. Even in this crisis her proud would not allow her to wish upon him. He appeared without any fuzz or special magical theatrics right beside her again where he had stood. He was blissfully unaware of her attempted summoning of him.

"Oh sweetling haven't you made any progress?"

She was in the exact same spot where he had left her. She inspected the line of mirrors again and again they showed an identical goblin version of the self she had left behind many years ago.

"Don't rush me."

"Moving is an essential part of solving a labyrinth, you know."

She gave him a small sideways glare this time. One promising more intense glares to follow in the very near future.

The tapping of goblins feet returned this time carrying with it its possessors. She had been right about the noise. There were goblins in her mirror room making a mess of the place. A clattering like that of dishes falling to the floor left a sloppy moving pile of half armoured, as was their fashion, goblins. The goblins one by one scrambled back to their feet and came running towards her. During their run they tossed at least three different items of headgear at each other. Elspeth caught sight of a Viking helmet, a cooking pot and one pointy red, remarkably resembling a typical gnome's, hat. The goblins switched hats and slip slided over the floor, their heads down in which was supposed to be a bow to their king.

"Finally. You lot took your sweet time.

They are so shy. You wouldn't believe it." He pushed the goblins in a row before the queen. "We are here amongst goblins alike after all, but then you are quite the special treat." He watched Elspeth's upper lip contract in disgust with obvious glee.

"What is this?" Her words dripped venom.

The creatures looked anxious to meet her. One held out its slimy hand as in introduction. Queen Elspeth could think of no self-respecting human who would touch that. She ignored the hand until he put it away again thinking he had misremembered the social gesture.

She could not make much from the second goblin in the row. She did recognize what part the head was, and hoped she was right otherwise she was looking him in the arse. Another goblin was hopping whilst biting his feet nails. She was felt more awkward with every goblin. She briskly drew her gaze away from the following goblin picking his nose. His skin rather did resemble that gooey substance. She did not bother casting a glance on what goblins might follow. She drew her gaze up to Jareth's mismatching eyes.

Now he had her attention back he spoke. "These handsome young chaps are your self-appointed judges."

"Oh male are they?"

"They want to witness this so badly they volunteered to clear out the goblin latrines in return. All of them. It is a deal I could not refuse." He shook his wispy blonde hair with a smile.

"You didn't have to trick them into coming here?"

"No." He contently patted one of the goblins on the back. Her biggest fans apparently. The filth. The Goblin King rubbed his hands together, letting on how enthusiastic he really was. "Right introductions: goblins Elspeth, Elspeth goblins. Elspeth will be staying with us from now on."

And there was the more annoyed glare he had secretly looked forward to be bestowed on him by her enchanting blue eyes. He enjoyed the spiteful moments they shared the best. "In a few trivial moments that is."

"Are these the ugliest specimens you could find?" They looked like it.

"I told them to be on their naughtiest behavior for you, sweetling. "

Jareth smirked. He took her by the hand and led his queen on an educational stroll through this labyrinth. It was a merry parade for the goblins who wobbled along.

The reflections were changing now into different images. Elspeth's heart clenched in fear.

"And this must be you as a goblin child. How cute you were. That sloppy hair in knots and braids and a ragged gown to match. A muddy complexion of the skin that would do well in a swamp as camouflage." She stroked her hair back and saw her reflection do the same. She vividly remembered how life felt like with that skin, that hair, the sleeves of her mucky old dress falling back against her dry skin. She felt her hair grow greasy and tawny and tried to convince herself that it was not so. She wanted to run away but terror froze her feet to the floor. In that moment she felt exactly how long it had been since she had something to eat. She needed a bite, a drink, just a sip of water. Something to lessen the scrambledness of her mind and trembling of her hands. Something she would in all likeliness be forced throw up as soon as she had taken it in. Her body felt faint to the bone.

"Make it stop."

She was met by silence. "This nonsense has gone on long enough."

Elspeth looked down the corridor. One of the judges scratched its balding head with the one bony crooked finger he had. Jareth had already moved on. His self-assured way highlighted that they had done this especially for her. She had to appreciate the effort that went into this. She didn't.

He gestured Elspeth into his direction "Come." The goblins walked past the mirrors first, far more enthusiastic to follow his demand than she was. A number of mirrors made them resemble human children. Some made them look like peacocks or stranger creatures. The goblins were more or less calm and obedient out of fear of their monarch. They had evidently not understood his order to be naughty.

Jareth's reflection remained unchanged in all mirrors.

"Take a look at this one. It is the image of your human form turned old. You look a bit like my grandmother here. A feisty goblin." Queen Elspeth touched her face in concern. She stretched her skin as she used to do in the mirror when making a silly face of her gorgeous one but this time she was dead serious.

"That's not me. I won't age."

"You could. Every possibility lies open in the Labyrinth. Old age makes mortal people resemble goblins, wouldn't you agree? Even your charming little disguise. We'll move on. Humanity is not the objective of this game. This mirror is a joke in-between."

"Of course you have more goblins to show me."

Jareth rolled a small crystal down his sleeve. He watched it as one would check a watch. "Not much longer now. How soon this must come to an end."

"You could give me more time."

"Why for the love of hell would I do that?"

"Because you are bored and I entertain you." She snapped, finding the courage only with eyes averted from the mirrors. His self-indulgent way of talking rubbed off on her. "Jareth," she chided "you fail to realize that stalling me would suffice to make me lose. You have an easy job. Yet you insist on making it complicated for the both of us with all this running about, pesky goblin attacks, magic mirrors and personal challenges. There is no need to go so cruel about it and risk giving me an actual chance to win. There are better ways to keep me occupied than this. Besides I would be more understanding afterwards if ..."

"This is not the time to think of your own pleasures, sweetling. I am not here to amuse you. This is my party, my fun. You are difficult to work with when you are under stress. Has anyone pointed that out to you? You could at least try to see the fun in it. I can. You seemed to like my kind of fun. No? Perhaps? This makes you awfully tense."

"You don't say!" Her voice bordered on the verge of screaming.

"Look here, Elspeth. You can't buy yourself extra time. It wouldn't help you if you did seduce me. However delicious the offer, you need to solve my labyrinth first. You have to try a bit harder." She was peeved at how he brushed off the bedroom card she had played with such ease. This was not the desired effect. "Kiss a goblin." he whispered to her ear.

"No." she mouthed viciously.

The goblins gathered about a mirror a few paces from where she stood. They were grading the reflection that mirror caught of her. One put up his thumb, another all seven of its fingers.

She glared behind Jareth's back. "You are not that impressive yourself, goblin king."

"This one?" Jareth smiled. "That's a bit cruel." He puckered his lips thinking it over. The next moment he twirled the goblin around. "It's perfect, just perfect. It suits us our nature, my style, man's dark desires and her deepest fears to the letter."

He let the goblin fall to the floor and addressed Elspeth again.

"You don't have to watch." He inched her towards the mirror in a most protective manner. He brought his mouth to her ear.

Elspeth's scowls were of no use. "Here's one of your goblin self, grown old as well." She knew it would be horrid before she lay her eyes on it, before he had spoken a word.

The phrase 'That is not me' had become redundant by now.

"No, it isn't you, not yet. This was never about your kingdom or even your castle. "

"My beauty."

"Which you will lose if you lose." In a daze she noticed the background to her reflection. The earth tones and general messiness of the place indicated his goblin castle. "You will still be the prize of my collection. I will keep you, pet you, my fondness of you will drive you sick with disgust, my vain queen."

She would strike him in his pretty face for those words or knee him some place lower, which would be a pity but needs must. No, it was too late for light punishments. A goblin did not have to catch her hand in an attack on their king. She kept herself captive with her own thoughts. "That was not what you told me. You can't up the stakes whenever you feel like it."

"My labyrinth, my rules. You lost your mirror to me."

"Only my mirror!"

He waved his finger. "Your mirror and everything it gave you."

"You stole it! I am not trading in my kingdom and beauty for monster garten."

Her elderly reflection had begun to move separately from her. It was now in the middle of tearing two pesky battling goblins apart.

Jareth looked both bemused and amused. She was not fond of that expression. It could not mean anything good for her. Nothing ever did. "You haven't got a choice. It is what we have been playing for all along." He slowly moved behind her. He tenderly stroked her hands behind her back and let them go.

He brushed her hair. Then kissed the back of her head.

"I am going to miss the hair." He ruffled her orange locks. They disappeared from under his nose.

"Don't run." He said flatly and caught her fleeing form stiffly by the waist and arm. He guided her struggling self back to the same mirror. "This reflection will lift your spirit. "

She had to trust he had changed its image. She did not.

She had closed her eyes in front of the evil mirrors. This was quite against her nature. Her instinct to keep them open was agonizingly strong. Normally she would want to keep an eye on any oncoming danger. This was the exception when the trap and danger lay in the looking.

"My goblin." he whispered seductively. He squeezed her arm encouragingly. She did not flinch. "Smart, scared girl." A smooth surface shifted under her chin. Jareth stroked a crystal ball against her skin. It was attached to a scepter which he raised to lift her unwilling face. Then clearly he spoke: "Take a look. A small peak is all I ask." He rolled the crystal up her chin. ", all we need."

She obeyed against her wishes or perhaps not. She was not certain anymore where his wishes ended and hers began. She was certain that she would remember once she was out of this blasted magic room of his and provide him with a fitting punishing. As things were she opened her eyes and saw that her reflection was a vision of orange. The mirror showed her own royal, if a bit tattered, form. It showed exactly who she was at this very moment. "You are back to your old self, your self-approved version of course. You see," He gestured to the mirrors, he did not have to. "you have an awful lot to lose, sweetling. Tututu" he hushed her. "I am merely making a point. You'd better proclaim me winner before it is irreversibly too late."" Her face reflected torment and hurt, alongside furious and cold determination, but she had a hard time keeping those up because these emotions struggled with the happiness of seeing her unearthly beauty again.

"You will let me be me should I give up?"

He shook his head. "I would let you be whatever I want you to be if you surrender. "

"The appearance you choose you will have to live with from this day on. There are many options. Mirrors that make you goblin and mirrors that make you who you were born to be. But those are the same, by some lucky coincidence. My my you are in a tight spot."

"You are giving me no chance." And he was proud of it.

She only had eyes for herself. The other person visible in the mirror was not of her current interest. Jareth felt he had to draw her attention to his almost ridiculously pretty reflection as well. His black gaping poet shirt was in perfect contrast with the soft sand coloured strands of hair reaching over his shoulders. He was a sad figure of romance. "Your mirror, my obedient hostage, says we'd make a perfect couple."

"You don't say." Her tone failed to be ironic. She kept staring at the reflection of the two of them.

It was a sweet trap she had to admit. Something about him dissolved most of her anxiety.

The goblins witnessed their vanity incomprehensivily. Elspeth did not want those to be there. As long as she watched the mirror they were not there. They did not show in this mirror. "The fairest in all the land."

"That's not difficult in this land." She moved away, fidgeting slightly with her torn dress. She would not keep her eyes of her mirror image. She did not exactly walk backwards because she could not bear to be parted from her real reflection. "This mirror shows me. The others don't."

"You know such a mirror has to be meddled with." Yet her vanity would not let her choose any other mirror. Jareth tapped the floor with his foot a trapdoor opened up behind her. It prevented her from backing away any further. "It could make you very very unappetizing. Better decide soon, your time's almost up."

She refused. She did not speak, she did not move.

Jareth pressed the other side of his staff to her chin, which was unless she was very much mistaken a riding crop. He taunted her at the brink of that curious trapdoor. The smoke of stench erupted from the hole. Its destination was no longer a mystery.

The goblin king found out what the glaring and hurt lead up to, she forcefully grabbed him to her. "You are going to show me the right mirror." She raised her head to look at him. He didn't do as much as glower. He did not seem troubled in the least. He smiled slyly. "Yes you are." "And why should I do that? I clearly have the upper hand in this situation." She jerked his sparkly blue collar. Her other hand reached for the knife in her skirt. "I will take you with me through whatever mirror I go. You wouldn't want to risk trading your own beauty for that of a goblin now would you?" Jareth reveled in the typical cockiness of the goblin king. He could handle her threat. But she… she was losing it and that was very entertaining. "I suppose I will have to distract you some more." He lowered his mouth to hers. Elspeth determined she was not going to fall for that. "Nah ahah Goblin King." She held onto her knife and yelped. It had bitten her. The knife turned into a slimy goblin cat that bit her.

"You were playing against the rules, sweetling. You forget that nothing is what it seems here." As her grip involuntarily loosened from his person he pushes her towards the mirror her back was turned to. "You are taking too long. You haven't had the pleasure to see our bog yet. It is an opportunity every visitor should be granted."

"Pretty goblin not been sent to bog yet!" one goblin screeched.

"Bog drop's been long!"

"Bog! Bog! Bog! Bog!" The goblins cried and cheered. "Drop! Drop! Drop! Drop!"

"Wait a minute!"

"You can't afford a whole minute."

"You can't…"

"Oh can't I? Did I tell you that? I can have goddesses in my bed. Why would I want you?" Elspeth glared, glaring had become an understatement for her ferocious expression. He had broken a silent promise between them.

Her pretty mouth opened in shock. She glanced at the goblins the disgusting things she would not lower herself to kiss. Only if it were this necessary. And no one was around. Especially not Jareth. And she had no morsel of pride left. In short very nearly never. It was not as if a goblin kiss would get her somewhere. Jareth would not let that happen. He has offered it as a last resort but that was as fake as any other of his sick jokes. All of it was solely for the king's pleasure. Jareth saw the unacceptance in her eyes and bid her farewell.

"You will see Mab's beauty when she visits. She might pass you by in the corridor and look down on you with contempt. I look forward to seeing you despise that look with a burning goblin jealousy."

With those words she fell down into the bog.


	7. Bog Stew

Now to wrap this story up.

Mirror mirror in the bog. Only two minutes left on the clock.

Queen Elspeth dropped down onto discoloured grass. She landed quite unfortunately on her ankle but would not loose time over that. She scrambled to her feet in a hurry. She saw nothing but mud before her. She ran. There was a clock face hovering in the air above the bog like a huge spectre. It was as unsubtle a mocking as she had ever seen one. She had some time left. Anything could happen in the labyrinth. She would get out of this filthy place at least. The smell was unbearable and even here everything was covered in glitter but it only made the place fouler. How much time was left on the clock? One minute. She felt her shoe slide on the ground. She slipped down a brown green mud trail leading to a pool of bobbling slime.

Jareth sauntered through the bog following his own whimsical way over its misty paths which were treacherous to anyone but him. He was in a good mood, he was positively over the moon. He cast a triumphant smile as he saw Elspeth get up and turn away from where he stood.

He had sent her to a place inside his traditional labyrinth. In the worst case, the impossible scenario that she should find her mirror there, he would claim that her departure of her personal labyrinth annulled her victory. She had lost and had to stay, as simple as that.

Jareth caught her by the waist in the nick of time. His face loamed over her. "Time's up." He sang. "You lost." She almost wanted him to let her fall into the yuck. "You are nowhere near the castle. Mine or yours."

She raised a warning hand. "I don't believe a word you say." She lost the mirror game and still managed to keep her own form. This man was full of lies. Not a surprise, really.

"Look at the clock."

"Your clock. You can call it quits whenever you want to."

"That is the idea."

"No." She kept her hand positioned firmly between them. "I won't give in." She slid from his grasp and walked on, careful not to fall into the slimy water. The rocks made weird sucking noises.

He grabbed her arm. She spun around.

"This was never really a game, Elspeth. You have always been mine. My pretty little goblin." he purred.

Queen Elspeth did not like it when he called her that. She should not like it. She frowned. "I am not little."

An interested hmm sound erupted from his throat.

The queen clenched her jaw. "What will you do with me?"

"You lost, my dear subject. You have to stay here."

"Here here? "

"The bog is a nice spot. There are less appealing places. Your fate could have been so much worse. You picked your home well." He smirked beyond amused.

She looked away proudly. "I fail to see how. And my beauty?"

"It would be a waste to undo a beauty so rare amongst goblins. You are right, I would not let such beauty go to waste in the bog."

She placed a hand on his lips. "I do not take losing well."

"Surely you can't call this losing. Your beauty remains unblemished and you found a better party than your weary king husband."

"Oh I have no objection about that."

"The goblins."

She cast her eyes down and nodded.

"They do say it is dangerous to kiss a goblin. You never know what might happen."

"They are ugly." Any other insultive word has lost meaning to her.

"I will risk it. Whatever the consequences." He kissed her.

She pushed him away.

It was only fair. An insult for an insult.

She saw him frown and fake suffering from damaged pride. Suddenly she felt scared of losing him.

A sly look came over her. "Won't those goddesses be disappointed? "

"Some jealousy might do her good." He stroked Elspeth's fine orange hair. "Can't you tell when I am playing with you? Why would I prefer you as a child or hag when I can have you like this? Why would I want another more mundane woman? "

"I'm a goblin." The word forcefully popped from her mouth.

He held her unusually sad figure. "Yes you are. A very yummy one. It makes you perfectly irresistible. As I said I will take my chances on you."

The world disintegrated around her by his proximity. His hand was in hers. He smirked at her.

"Merciful as I am you may stay in my land and remain as you are." She felt herself bend back in oddly comfortable bog moss. "Now we will live happily ever after." The softness under her had turned into cushions. The bog had completely faded. It had given way to his bedchambers. She smiled at his charming offer and his equally charming smile that accompanied it.

He toyed with a lock of her hair. "To irk me." She said, lying back in his bed.

"Naturally."

She looked up at him. "Will you stop grinning?" she smiled herself.

"Not in a million years, sweetling."

He bent over her and covered her in kisses.

"Where is my mirror?" She interrupted.

"I flung it through one of the mirrors. I will pick it up tomorrow wherever it landed. It's perfectly safe. Shall we continue?"

She took him by the arm. "Let us both have some fun."


End file.
